Car-weighing apparatus.



INVENTOR 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WN Wm.

PatentedJ une 8, 1915.

Y ATroRNEY N 1. Nm. O A. Nm.. N IMM 5 L@ E l.

WITNESS THE NORRIS PETERS C0., PHOTC-LITHG.. WASHING TON. D. C.

A. w. EPRIGHT. I CARWEIGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION PILED APR. 27. 1.915.

, Patented June 8, 1915.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

WlTNEss ATTORNEY C. D. N. m G m H w w, n L. ,0. O H P Q C 5 R E T E P RR o N E m *tra err ALONZO w. ern-rentaor ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

cnn-werenrive APPARATUS;

specification if Letters Patent. Y Paltd Jun@ g, i915, l

Application nled Apr127, 1915. l Serial No. 24,7223.

T0 all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ALONZO W. EPRIGHT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Altoona, in the county of Blair, Statel ofPennsylvania, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-`Weighing Apparatus, of which the following is a true and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part thereof. Y Y

My present invention relates to Vapparatus for weighing railway carswhile in mo-f' tion, and is an improvement on the apparatus for thispurpose covered by my prior Patent blo. 956,323 issued April` 26,119.10.In the apparatus disclosed in my prior patent, the track over which thecars are passed to the railroad scale is formed ,with

a hump comprising .tivo inclined sections meeting at an apex located atadefinite,

Vhas been extensively used andhas proved to be of great value for theArapid anda-iccurate weighing of ,cars 1n motion. Some difliculty `hasbeenV experienced in its use,

. however, from the fact that when the apex of the hump is yverticallyadjusted, as it needs to be from time to time as the operatingconditicns change, the corresponding tendency to vary the accelerationof the front end of the car passing-over the hump,y

is offset to some extent by the variation in the resistance to theupward movement of the rear truck of the car. tween the tendency toincreased or decreased acceleration, and the increase or decrease inresistance varies with the length of wheel base of the car, andintroduces an uncertainty in operation, and it is theV object of thepresent invention to avoid this variable resistanceto movement of therear wheels of a car during the period in which the velocity of the carshould accelerate.

The relation be- The means which l haveidevised for accomplishing myobject comprises a hump di- Vvided Vinto three sections of which the inftermediate `,section is at the top of the hump and ,1sv preferablyhorizontal, or substantially so,'and the `end sections are down- -vwardly inclined from the ends of the intermediatesection, and in which'the intermediate .section maybe maintained substantially parallel toitself in its different ad- Justments.

The variousv features of novelty whichV characterize my invention arepointedout with particularity in the claims annexed to, and forming apart of this specification.

For a better understanding 'iof the invention, however, and 'oftheadvantages possessed by it,` reference should be had to the accompanyingdrawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated anddescribed the preferred embodiment of my invention.

Y 0f the drawings: Figure l is a diagrammatic elevation lillustrating arailway track scale withl my improved hump in' the track leadingthereto; 2 is a partial longituv dinalV section through a portion of thehump, andh` ig. 8 is a section -on the line 3&3 of Fig.V 2;'

of the latter being shown as horizontal."

,C is the track section .supported by the scale platform; C', C2- and C3the three track sections forming the hump in the track over .which theYcars are passed tothe scale.

In the particular construction illustrated, the track rails C4, proper,pertaining to the hump structurearesupported on` chairs F which in turnare mounted on the Vusual cross ties Gr. The cross ties G for the -humpsection Cvv are supported on the upper edges of beams H which, in theform shown, are built up beams made of rolled metal shapes and tiedtogether by cross braces l; similarly the cross ties G for the humpsections Y. C2 and C3 are supported von 4the pairs of, brace connectedbeams H2 and H3 respectively. The lower ends of the beams H of the humpsection C are pivotally supported at J through hinge members J and J 2,the hinge members J being connected to the beams H, and the hingemembersJ2 being supportedbyabutments B raising from the bottom of the extensionof the scale pit B. The lower vend of the hump section C is l Y 8 5 lntheV draw-ings: A; represents the scale j and B the wall vof the scalepit, the bottom similarly hinge supported on abutments B4 similar toabutments B. rlhe upper ends of the beams l-l and the adjacent ends oit'the beams lrest upon an adjustable support D and are `mounted onabutments B2 which, as shown, is a built up beam. Similarly the upperends of the beams H3 and the adjacent ends of the beams P2 rest upon anadjustable support DA which may be similar to the support D, and ismounted on a corresponding pair of abutments B3. Any suitable provisionsmay be made for effecting the vertical adjustment of the supports D andDA to thereby vary the vertical elevation of the hump section C2. Themeans shown for this purpose comprise spacers D3 interposed between theenlarged end portions D oi' the beams D and DA, and the subjacentabutments B2 or B3, these spacers being varied in number, or beingreplaced by others of different thickness in order to give the desiredvertical adjustments of the ends of the lhump section C2. As shown, thebeams D and DA are provided with ears D4 under which tops of jacks, notshown, may be placed in order to raise and lower the beam to permit thespacing blocks D3 to be adjusted.

B5 represent seats provided for the lower ends of the lifting jacks. Theends of the track rails Ct adjacent the scale platform may be supportedon stationary cross beams K and K", As shown the chairs F projectthrough apertures lvl in a stationary platform M which is carried bysuitable beams L.

ln the practical use of my invention for handling ordinary freight carsof the general character usedin the standard railway practice in thiscountry, the hump sections C', C2 and C3 may well beapproximatelytwenty-live, twelve and sixteen feet in lengthrespectively. lt is to be understood, of course, that these dimensionsare given primarily for illustrative purposes and may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

ln the use oi" the invention the cars are pushed over the hump, and eachcar ordinarily begins to accelerate and thereby breaks away 'from thesectionof the train back of it and from which it has previously beenuncoupled, at about the instant at which the rear truck passes onto thesection C2 of the hump, and'in consequence the retarding force,

varying with the vertical adjustment of the hump apex, exerted by thehump section C3 on the rear truck of each car passing over the hump,need not affect the velocity with which the car moves off of the humpsection C and C2 onto the scale. ln the different vertical adjustmentsof the hump the intermediate section is ordinarily maintained horizontalor substantially so.

`While in accordance with the provisions oi" the statutes yl haveillustrated and described the best form of my invention now known to me,it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat changes maybe madein the form of apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit ofmy invention and that in some cases some features of my invention maybeused without a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by lietters Patent, is:

1. Car weighing apparatus comprising a track scale, a track leadingthereto, and comprising an adjustable hump formed of an intermediatesection, a downwardly inclined section leading toward the scale from oneend of said intermediate section, and another downwardly inclinedsection extending away from the opposite end of said intermediatesection, and means for vertically adjusting said intermediate sectionand the adjacent ends of said inclined sections.

2. Car weighing apparatus comprising a track scale, a track leadingthereto, and comprising an adjustable hump formed of an intermediate andsubstantially horizontal section, a downwardly inclined section leadingtoward the scale from one end of said intermediate section, and anotherdownwardly inclined section extending away from the opposite end of saidintermediate section, and means for simultaneously effecting a verticaladjustment of each end oi" said intermediate section and the adjacentend of the adjacent inclined sections.

ALONZO W. EPRlGl-ll.

Uopes of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing'the Commissioner of atents,

' Washington, D.. f5.

CIT

